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Out of the box: Red Velvet Whoopie Pies.

We all do it, have done it, will do it, and frankly I think love to do it. What exactly? Baking from a box. There is a critic for everything and I know there are bountiful boxed cake critics, but I really don’t care. (Hey, someone made it big by reinventing the world of boxed cakes. The Cake Mix Doctor, anyone??) But really, sometimes you just want to take the path of least resistance, and it’s not like that path doesn’t always taste amazing! Alright, so you can’t brag that you came up with this recipe or spent hours slaving over a mixing bowl in the kitchen, but in the long run, all people remember should remember is how sweet and tasty a dessert is. Don’t be ashamed of your Betty Crocker swagger. I know we all have one!

Last night’s adventure was sponsored by Stonewall kitchen and one of my best friends, Laura. About a year ago came one of the most wonderful surprises in my life, two new roommates! My forever roommate would be sure to admit that our lives would be very different without the introduction of Laura and Brittany into our world. Laura calls me Mom and I call her my daughter. It doesn’t describe our relationship, but really just the fact that we are always looking out for one another. My little daughter really looked out for me when she gifted me this delicious mix to help introduce me into the world of Whoopie Pies! And red velvet Whoopie Pies to boot. The red velvet is just a small reminder of the day that I baked one of my all time favorite red velvet cake for my roommates… I think it lasted out on the counter maybe 36 hours. Oh, YUM!

With all of the debate lately about what is going to take the place of the cupcake trend whoopie pies have gained a bit of increased buzz. Now, I really don’t think there is anything like a cupcake, but I guess it’s all up to the many creative chefs in this world to challenge that! This recipe was my first attempt at making any type of “pie” that doesn’t involve a crust.

Even if I had decided to make them from scratch I can’t imagine that it is a difficult process.

They came out of the oven in a little under 10 minutes, smelling amazing of course. The thing that I love about red velvet the most is that in theory it could be considered a type of chocolate cake, but that all the chocolate you get is just the faint aroma and taste with each bite you take. In allowing these to cool properly, they also get this awesome sticky consistency about them from the sugar. What I do know about whoopie pies is that they aren’t meant for just any run of the mill sweet tooth! They involve a ton of sugar.

Although I wanted to stray from the box’s rules and make my own filling, I didn’t. What came with the mix was basically the powdered sugar you were instructed to cream with 6 tablespoons of butter along with a few teaspoons of milk. See, sweet!

I elected to further simplify things and not make a mess of a piping bag. I evenly spread the filling on one cake and had quite a lot of fun smushing them all together. If I had decided to replace the Stonewall filling with my own, I would have either gone a marshmallow cream route or of course my all time favorite and super sticky, 7 minute frosting. I also was really dying to put together a cream cheese butter cream… Thank goodness I didn’t have any cream cheese on hand.

So for all of you non-believers, I hope this made you reconsider your anti-boxed mix ways. Every once in a while it’s just fun to be able to make something tasty in only 2 or 3 steps. I know I had a ton of fun making these little guys, and if anything it makes you want to try to find the best recipes out there to make them again, this time from scratch!

Philly Mag did an article in their January 2011 issue on Top 5 Red Velvet Revamps – They chose Beiler’s Bakery in the Reading Terminal Market as the go-to spot for a great take on a red velvet whoopie pie.